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My original post told about my recent bicycle accident, and resulting 
surgery to repair a badly broken arm.
I was interested to hear about the experiences from any other 
middle-aged male celiacs who had had a bad fracture w/ hardware 
installed.

I heard from several people, including women whose experience I 
should not have excluded in my original post!  I was giving too much 
weight to the influence of menopause on many women's bone health, 
because many women do not in fact experience bone loss during & 
post-menopause.

Thanks for all your feedback - following are edited replies.

"I was biopsy-diagnosed celiac in Nov 2003... I am VERY careful about 
my diet, and supplement with calcium.  I fell in November 2004, 
sustaining a comminuted but closed fracture of both radius and ulna, 
requiring surgical repair.  I had a plate and six screws.  I asked a 
lot of questions about bone density, celiac disease, and healing at 
the time, and my surgeon was somewhat intrigued, but didn't have any 
sense that celiac disease had affected my fracture.  I healed 
quickly, and the surgeon was impressed with my bone density.  I had 
the hardware removed from my arm about 18 months after the original 
injury, and on a follow-up Xray 3 months after removal, it was 
difficult to see where the injury had been.  The screw holes were 
almost invisible, too.  I DO feel the weather, though less than when 
I had hardware in my arm."
=-=-=
"I am female & 60 years old.  Two years ago I broke a bone near my 
knee, bad break but I do not have osteo, doc said if you fall hard 
enough (& mine was a twisted fall) that any bone will break.  I have 
a plate & 5 screws.  I healed very well, my doctor could not believe 
it.  I did all my leg exercises etc.  I will say that the recoup time 
was really a year & a half to get back to normal.  & a good 6 months 
before I was walking without crutches.  I now go to the gym & do the 
eliptical, the recumbent bike & the upper body weights.  I have no 
pain whatsoever & do not even take advil anymore.  I had been wheat 
lite for over 10 years (thinking allergy) & gluten free for one year 
at the time of my accident.  Hang in there it will get better.  The 
only thing is that I wish I had gone back to the gym sooner.  My 
advice would be not to go too soon, but not to wait too long...  Eat 
a healthy diet..."
=-=-=
67 y.o. male, no hardware, healed well
=-=-=
male now 3 yrs GF had hip replacement - doc reported good bone after 
initial osteopenia was resolved w/ calcium supplements & more weight 
bearing exercise,
=-=-=
"I was dx Celiac about 5 years ago and two years ago had a serious 
car accident. Right leg from the knee to the ankle broken in 8 
places. Numerous pins, rods, plates and screws put in place. Was in a 
wheelchair for 6 months, then a walker until I learned how to walk 
again. Still in therapy x2 per week. Good  point is that I healed 
very fast due to taking colustrum. Bad part has been that it seems 
that my body is rejecting the Titanium parts. I get odd rashes and 
red blotches in different places. I hope to be walking good enough in 
another year to stop using my cane." (also, this writer noted that 
the bone healing was so fast that a few temp screws could not be 
removed.)
=-=-=
The mom of a girl w/ celiac & rickets, writes that she was helped by 
the specific carbohydrate diet (SCD)   "... She also takes large 
doses of iFLORA probiotic from 
<http://www.sedonalabs.com>www.sedonalabs.com .  A celiac friend uses 
DDS+ Gold Formula probiotic available at Whole Foods and health food 
stores.  Both of the take L Glutamine as recommended by one of the 
ladies on the list to help heal the cut and it has helped both of 
them.  Our daughter takes Solgar bonemeal with B12, magnesium from 
Solgar and their D1000.  In the beginning she had bonepain and 
rickets and needed 2000-3000 units of vit D a day until the bone pain 
went away.  Friend takes the same bonemeal, magnesium and D, and 
thrives on the SCD 24hour fermentation yogurt which eliminates 
lactose; our daughter is still dairy intolerant but still benefited 
greatly from the diet..."  Boron supplementation w/ the cal/mag/vit.D 
was also recommended "to help the bone knit more securely."
=-=-=
One woman's perspective affirms my own thought that I really hit the 
sweet spot, to have so thoroughly shattered both bones:  ".. we don't 
have to ride like the pros in The Tour to ride with a fair amount of 
momentum...  I think the crushing and splintering is like starting a 
billiards game.  Hit the group of balls from just the right 
angle--you needn't use much force, but the billiard balls disperse 
widely and with power.  Our bones are encased in tissue so they can't 
disperse, but they can shatter without great force
... many a non celiac I ride with has broken some (several) bones 
with minor falls and have strong bones that just hit wrong."
=-=-=
another wrote: "My brother, a non-celiac, did worse damage to his 
right arm/wrist at age 24 by tripping over a sprinkler in the back 
yard. His surgeon said it was the angle of fall and the force with 
which he landed that caused the damage. Over the last 20 years, he's 
had 6 surgeries and a wide variety of metal hardware to repair the 
damage.  Not everything is celiac!"
=-=-=
finally, another woman wrote " I remember my own experience with the 
titanium plates and screws.  I fell down while doing yard work and 
reached behind me to break my fall and it broke the end of the radius 
off, necessitating eight screws and a 'pi' plate to fasten it all 
together.  That was in '98 (before celiac dx).  By 2003, the screws 
were wearing on the tendons and I would have spasms of pain that 
would cause me to drop whatever I was holding, so I had the screws 
and plates removed.  That was a 'nothing' surgery and I was out 
driving the next day.  So, don't be afraid to have them out if they 
start to hurt."

thanks again , listmates!

Jack


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